Reel



Oct. 10, 1933.. J. B. SPOWART 1,929,568

' REEL Filed sept. 15, 1952 !NVENTOR y1. B. SPOWART B 5 anys-0 ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 107, 1933 L UNITED STATES REEL .John B; Spowart, Newark, N. J., assignor to American Telephonev and Telegraph Company,

a corporation of New York YApplication September 13, 1932 Serial No.f633,015

12 Claims. (Cl. 2432-77)` it carriesV by the automatic resisting actionv presented by the material upon itself. A

A further object is lto provide means for guid ing the material'in its passage on and from the reel. 4 f

These and further objects'will vbe'apparent from the following description, when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawing in which one modication'of the inventionis illustrated. y Y

Referring to the drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved reel;

Fig. 2 is an end View partly in section of Fig.1; i Y.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of Fig. 1 shown inl a slightly tilted position., f The improved reel herein illustratedand de` scribed maybe mounted onuany suitable support, for instance on a motor truck 5. This reel is adapted to receive rod, tape or resilient material in other forms particularly for use in connection with conduit duct rodding operations. Uprights 6 and 7, which may be bolted at their lower extremities to the truck` frame, are 'shown as forming supports for the reel. A shaft 8 is carried by the uprghts and is journaled on antifriction bearings carried by a hub 9. The uplrights 6 and 7 may be'reinforced by means of braces 10 which are bolted to the uprights land also to the truck frame. The member 'l extends upwardly from the shaft 8 and is provided with bolts 11 which pass through va flange 12 of ring 13 to maintain the Yring in astati'onary position. A series of rollers 14 is provided on a flange 12 which extends about the periphery of the ring 13. These rollers maybe attached in any desired manner to the flange 12. Said rollers are positioned in'such relation to the ends of the arms 15, to be presently described, as to prevent the escape of the rod, tape or other resilient material 16 carried by the reel. The rollers 14 also prevent the material from assuming too small a diameter while being unreeled and also prevent binding between the inner con- K Volution 'of the reeled up resilient material and the guide ring 13. The hub 9 of the reel has a spider mounted thereon. This spider for the purpose of illustration is shown as having `a plurality of sections or arms 15 of substantially U- shaped formation and these arms extend radiali ly from theaxis or hub of the reel. It will be obvious thatother forms of spider may be used, for instancefa spider of'disk form having flanges inturned from itsvperi'pheryy tov form 'abight. One leg of each of the arms 15'is cut off at a suitable distance from the vbight of the 1U, "so as toV provide an opening from one side of` the reel toward `the interior thereof. The armsv 15 are interconnected by means of La bandI 15. The resilient material 16 as it' enters'the reel piles up fromfthe bight ofr the arms towardthe reel axis. To prevent said material vfrom piling uptoward-the aXis beyondthe ycut-off sides of the arms the stationary ring V13 and its rollers are provided, asA previously pointed out. Eachv of the arms' 15 at one extremityfmay be at#r taclied to a flange 17 carried ion one end of the hub, and braces 18, foreach `of the armsv are attached to a flange 19 on the opposite end of .the hub. j n

One end of the resilient material 16 may be suitably attached to theperiphery of thereel at one of its arms, as shown at 20 in Fig. 1. The remainder of said materialis 'piled up fromv the periphery of theV reel toward its axis, with wthe downward end of ,the material extending through the yguidey member 21. This guide member consists of a pair of adjacent plates in which two cooperating rollers are journaled,` and vsaid plates are secured to the sides -of a-,attene'd portion22 of theV ring 13. v n

The resilient material 16` may be wound. or unwound and propelled in either direction by suitable apparatus. This apparatus in the presenti instance isl shown in the formof a tractor mechanism 23,which includes a pair of guided between saidrollers is engaged and-driven Sio ico

by the tractor chain to be wound or unwound from the reel.

The resilient material 16 is Wound or unwound in accordance with the direction of travel of the roller chains of the tractor mechanism.

In the winding operation, the material is guided andpropelled from the tractor'mechanism toward the series of rollers 29, and enters through the opening at one side of the reel and over the external periphery of the stationary ring 13 to the interior of the reel. Vxhen a sufficient amount of material 16 has been wound upon the reel in the manner described, power is disconnected from the tractor mechanism and said material uniiexes and oiers a resilient opposition to the momentum of the reel in one direction. When the power is disconnected from the tractor mechanism at the completion of the unwinding operation of the material 16 from the reel, said material is caused to l'iex more and offers a resisting action to overcome the momentum of the reel in the opposite direction.

. From the foregoing; it is thought that the construction, operation and many advantages of the herein describedA and delineated invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, without further description. It will be understood that various changes in the size, shape,

` proportion and minor details of construction the terminals and having its. periphery spaced from the ends of said terminals to provide an opening from one side of the reel to the interior thereof through which the resilient material passes, the resilient .material as it enters the reel'bing piled up from the bights of the spider towards the reel shaft and said material as it leaves the re'el being un'piledl in a direction from theV reel shaft towards the bights of the spider. l 2. An internally winding reel for resilient material. including a shaft, a spider rotatably In'ounte'cil` on the shaft and having terminals bent at the periphery of the spider to form bights, a stationary ring mounted inA alinement with the terminals and having its periphery yspacedv from the ends of the terminals to provide an opening from one side of the reel to the interior thereof through which the resilient material passes, and means spaced about the periphery o f said ring to prevent binding betweenY the inner convolution of the reeled up resilient material and the stationary ringrand also to prevent the escape of such material frm the reel.

An internally winding reel for resilient mae terial'- including a shaft, a spider rotatably mounted on the sh-aft and having terminals bent 'at the periphery of the spider to form bights,y a stationary ring mountedY in alinement with the terminals and having its periphery spaced from the ends of said terminals to provide an opening from one side of the reel to the interior thereof through which the resilient material passes, the resilient material as it enters, the reel being piled up fromthe bights of y the spider towards the reel shaft, said materialA as it leaves the reel being unpiled in a direction from the reel shaft towards the bights of the spider, and said resilient material when unwound from the reel flexing to such degree as to oifer a resisting action to overcome the momentum of the reel in one direction and when wound on the reel unflexing to such degree as to offerresilient opposition to the momentum 'of the reel in the other direction.

li. An internally winding reel for resilient material including a shaft, a spider rotatably mounted on the shaft and having terminals bent at the periphery of the spider to form bights, a stationary ring mounted in alinement with the terminals and having its periphery spaced from the ends of the terminals to provide an opening from one side of the reel to the interior thereof through which the resilient material passes, said resilient material when unwound from the reel exing to such degree as to oier a resisting action to overcome the momentum of the reel in one direction and when wound on the reel unflexing to such degree as to voffer resilient opposition to the momentum` of` the reel in the other direction, and means spaced about the periphery of lsaid ring to preventbind-V ing between-the inner convolution of the reeledV up resilient material and `the stationary ring and also to prevent the escape `of such material from the reel. i Y Y 5. An internally winding reel for resilient material including a shaft having arms of sub stantially U-shape formation and extending radially-from the shaft, one leg ofeach arm being cut oif from the bight of the U to providean opening from one side ofthe reel to the interior thereof, guiding means for said material mounted on said shaft, the resilient material as it enters the reel being piled up from the bights of the arms toward the reel shaft, and means yfor preventing binding between the inner convolu- Y tion of the reeledY up material and the guiding means. s Y u v 6. An internally winding reel for resilient material including a shaft having arms of substantially U-shape formationv and lextending radially from the shaft, one leg of each arm being cut on from the bights of the U to provide an opening from one side of the reel to the interior thereof, a stationary ring mounted on said shaft, the resilient material as it enters the reel being piled up from the bights of the U-shaped arms toward said stationary ring, and means mounted on said ring for preventing binding between the inner convolution` of the reeled up resilient material andthe stationary rmg.

Y '7. An internally winding reel for resilient ma-A terial including a shaft having a spider rotatably mounted thereon and having arms of substantially U-shape formation andextending radially from the shaft, a stationary ring mounted on said shaft, said resilient material being piled up from the bights of the U-shaped arms toward the stationary ring, and when unwound being caused to flex to such a degree as tooffer a resisting action to overcome the momentum of the spider in one direction, and when wound on the reel being caused to unflex to such a degree as to oier resilient opposition to the momentum of the spider in the opposite direction.

8. An internally winding reel for resilient material including a shaft having a spiderrotatably mounted thereon and having arms of substan- Jally U-shape formation and extending radially from the shaft, a stationary ring mounted on said shaft, said resilient material being piled up from the bights of the U-shaped arms toward the stationary ring, and when unwound being caused to eX to such a degree as to oifer'a resisting ac-` tion to overcome the momentum of the spider in one direction, and When wound onthe reel being caused to uniiex to such a degree asto offer resilient opposition to the momentum of the spider in the opposite direction, and means mounted in spaced relation about the stationary ring for preventing binding between the inner convolution of the reeled up resilient material and said ring.

9. An internally Winding reel for resilient material including a shaft having arms of substantially U-shape formation and extending radially from the shaft, one leg of each arm being out off to provide an opening from oneside of the reel to the interior thereof through which the resilient material passes, and a stationary ring mounted on the shaft for guiding the resilient material in its passage on and from the reel.

10. An internally Winding reelv for resilient material including a shaft having arms of substantially U-shape formation and extending radially from the shaft, one leg of each arm being out off to provide an opening from one side of the reel to the interior thereof through which the resilient material passes, a stationary ring'mounted on the shaft for guiding the resilient material in its passage on and from kthe reel, and roller members mounted on said ring for preventing binding between the inner convolution of the reeled up resilient material and the stationary ring.

11. An internally winding reel for resilient ing cut off to provide an opening from one side of the reel to the interior thereof through a which the resilient material passes, a stationary ring mounted on the shaft, and means carried by said ring for guiding the resilient material in its passage through the reel.

12. An internally winding reel for resilient material including a shaft having arms of substantially U-shape formation and extending from the shaft, one leg of each arm being cut off to provide an opening fromone side of the reel to the interior thereof, through which the resilient material passes, a stationary ring mounted on the shaft, means carried by said ring for guiding the resilient material in its passage through the reel,r and roller members spaced about the ring for preventing binding between the inner convolution ofthe reeled up resilient material'and the'stationary ring.

JOHN B. SPOWART. 

